Ryan's build thread - Clean and Mean
 

Hello everyone,

I am finally starting to modify my 05' MSM that I purchased back in September 2011. I'll start off with a few pictures of how the car sits now. The only current mod is the MR SS tall kit that I just installed last week Friday.

My hp goals are for roughly 320 rwhp and 300 ft-lb of torque. I plan to split my build into 4 phases. The first 2 phases are entirely engine related. The 3rd phase will address suspension, tires, rollcage, etc. The 4th phase will be aero and asthetics.

Next week on the 28th I am having a local shop (LHT Performance) build me a custom 3" exhaust and dp. Will be back in town to pick up the car on the 31st and I will be sure to post pics. I have already picked up some 650cc injectors, an LC-1, and will be getting an MS3 from reverant soon when his build is updated. I plan on getting a mishimoto intercooler and am still not sure how I want to handle the intake.

I looked at the speedy 1 kit from BEGI to replace the throttle body inlet pipe, intake, and bypass valve all at the same time but I wasn't sure if anyone had any better suggestions.

car looks nice man.

Thanks!

I just ordered a MS2 enhanced from reverant and also have my mishimoto intercooler on the way. My exhaust will be getting installed this week with many pictures to come. I think for the intake I will be getting a BEGI speedy 1 kit as I have no fabrication skills and honestly just want something top quality that won't give me a headache since this is my DD.

I have a dilemma though. I have an LC-1 but no guage and still do not have a boost gauge. I know I should have these but I wanted to not clutter my interior with gauges as I don't like the look. I wanted to do a maxiguage setup but am pretty unclear, after reading the thread, as to how hard that will be to setup for me. I have no electrical experience but want to do it myself. Is it fairly straightforward or would I be in over my head?

Should I just break down and get the two gauges and put them in my glovebox or something?

My plan is to replace my double din factory head unit with a factory single din bose heat unit to keep the OEM look and get a triple gauge pod to fill the other single din. Haven't had time to complete it, but it looks a lot cleaner than an A-piller gauge pod IMO.

I agree. I have thought about this but I was considering the maxigauge unit because of its relatively cheap price point with a total of 8 outputs making monitoring other areas easier without more gauges. Not sure which route I want to go yet.

Do I need gauges before I starting tuning or can I monitor that stuff with a laptop in the car while tuning and then just use warning lights to make sure I don't run the engine if anything is going critically wrong?

I feel like I know the answer to this already but I am not sure if anyone else has tuned without gauges. If I keep it conservative until I have the necessary outputs would it be doable without being too risky? The car is an msm so most of the mods are just replacing working parts so I feel like the car will have less problems as long as I take my time and do it right.

Just the laptop will give you all the readouts you need and you can configure the warning thresholds to your preference. All you really need is the wideband. You can even configure TS to readout boost.

I looked into the maxi gauge too, but it looks a little too complex for my liking. I will be running a wideband, boost gauge, and water temp/oil pressure combo gauge.

what kind of gauges are you gonna run (i.e. brands) I don't want to dish out an insane amount for gauges because honestly I am not sure how much I will actually look at them unless a warning light goes off. This is another reason I like maxigauge. All the warning lights make it more useful but I am with you. It seems complicated to setup unless you know how to wire and I don't know anyone who will wire it without charging an insane amount. The shop that is doing my dp and exhaust for a good price charges $75 a gauge. I can't imagine what they would charge for a maxigauge install.

I run an AEM UEGO, Prosport mechnical ultra lite boost gauge, and I am about to order one of these guys:
http://www.veisystems.com/d1-instruments.html

Wow I like those gauges. The ones you linked. I might just grab some of those. Six outputs for the same price as the maxigauge and way easier to install. Very nice thanks a lot. Looks like they will be very easy to read too.

Glad to help! I was told about them by hustler. I have seen them in person, and their build quality is badass.

I am trying to figure out what to do for my intake and have come to a dilemma. I wanted to get the speedy 1 kit from Begi since it is high quality and replaces parts I need to replace anyway but i just realized that when I upgrade my exhaust manifold to one of Abe's top mount ramhorn units the Begi intake won't fit right. It can probably be modified but will that be worth it or is there something else I can do for the intake that won't be as hard to modify.

For a stealth boost gauge installation you could replace the useless oilpressure gauge with a 52 mm Prosport gauge.
http://www.mazdaspeedy.com/2012/02/p...nside.html?m=1
Its the best location for any gauge imho.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1333008918

I just picked up my car from LHT Performance with the new custom 3" exhaust and downpipe. The car sounds and performs amazing. It spools noticeably sooner and has a bit more power. It looks like a stock pipe to the untrained eye, John does incredible work.

https://www.miataturbo.net/picture.p...pictureid=2322

https://www.miataturbo.net/picture.p...pictureid=2323

I also have these goodies waiting to be installed. The intercooler will probably go in soon but the rest most likely won't go in until I receive my MS2 from Rev.

Mishimoto z-line intercooler
https://www.miataturbo.net/picture.p...pictureid=2326

650cc injectors
https://www.miataturbo.net/picture.p...pictureid=2325

VEI Systems dual monitor boost/wideband O2 gauge with a ATI epod steering column gauge pod.
https://www.miataturbo.net/picture.p...pictureid=2324

I also have a LC-1 wideband controller and sensor waiting to be installed.

Tall kit?

Also those injectors are probably small for your hp goals.

"Tall" refers to the height of the shifter as there is a stock height and tall height which is closer to the steering wheel. Yes the 650cc injectors will only take me to about 290 whp and I will need to get some 750cc injectors later. However, I won't get to the second phase of the engine part of my build because I will probably tackle the suspension, wheels, and safety concerns first before I build the engine with forged internals to reach my end goal numbers

Do it once do it right

Buy ID2000s or at least 1000s :)

I think those are a little large for my application lol

What turbo are you going with?

Within a certain range, you can not have too much fueling headroom!

I'm not really sure yet to be honest. Most of my research has gone elsewhere for the time being. I haven't even decided if I want to do twin scroll or not. I am looking for the absolute quickest spool and a good amount of torque aswell. Gonna get a ramhorn exhaust mani from abe in the future and have lht modify the downpipe to fit. Not sure what turbo will offer optimum spool while still operating efficiently.

ID1000s would be pointless and worhtless on my stock 1.6L block. regardless of how big/small the turbo is.

It is a 1.8

Gauges can go in the center console if you still have a single-din radio. Replacing the oil "gauge" with the boost gauge is a great idea which I may implement at some point. One thing I really like about my gauges as they are now is that when the car is off, the gauges are completely blank glass screens. Nothing there screaming BOOST or WIDEBAND to the casual observer. My oil gauge has an output I will be using to control a relay for an oil cooler fan when temps go above the set point.

But the boost gauge in the top of the panel, and replacing the coolant gauge with a multi-display like Fae has done, would be very cool and space-conservative.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1333560507

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1333560507

I thought about a 1 din gauge cluster and I might still go that way in the future but I decided for now all I need is a boost and wideband readout which I can put in the gauge pod for the steering column. Mazdaspeed's have double din stereos so it would have been more of a hassle and more expensive in the short run to switch out the stereo and then I would have bought to more gauges and spent more money.

He said 320hp which = built block. Plus if you ever build your block then you won't have to take a 25%-50% used parts resale hit.


Only problem with twin scroll unless you are going EFR turbo is two wastegates. That will add about $300 including the dump pipe. Superior performance though.

I wish I started with an MSM :)

People bash the price to performance but if you look you can get a good deal on one. It already has a 6 speed, bigger axles, more reinforcements, good suspension and brakes although not the best. The biggest advantage especially for someone new like me is that i am replacing parts that are all already in place and working so it allows me to upgrade slower and learn easier. Wish it already had vvt though.

Plus i can sell the oem parts I remove to offset the price of parts and suprisingly they are not hard to get rid of around here. Atleast not yet.

any problems with boost creep with your new exhaust?

None that I notice but I don't have the gauge installed yet and do not have my ms2 yet so I cannot be positive.

I have a question for anyone who might know. I am looking to make the intake myself because it will need to be modified later when I upgrade my turbo but I have no idea how large of piping to use for the stock MSM turbo. I also noticed on some other builds that it appears the intake pipe is secured to the turbo with a silicon coupler. Is this the best way to mount it?

How else would you attach it? Pretty sure 99% of turbo kits use a silicone coupler clamped on to the turbo. Anything else you see is most likely an OEM design.

There's been a few threads about piping size lately, search around. But basically 2" is the easiest, 2.5" looks good but doesn't offer any increase in performance, and is harder to route. Search and read the threads if you want to be further convinced.

UPDATE: This last weekend I installed the MAF relocation kit from a member on mazda-speed.com. It went on with little problems. I had more trouble removing the stock parts due to the manufacturer putting epoxy on all the clamps and couplers. Kit includes a cold air intake, new BOV, manual boost controller, and a new throttle body inlet pipe to replace the weak factory unit.

My first drive with it seemed fine for the first 1/4 mile them all of a sudden no boost would build and the idle was all kinds of fucked. The car would stall if I didn't shift really fast or was off throttle for any length of time. Pulled in the nearest gas station and popped the hood. I initially could not see anything but after calling the member who made the kit I spotted a coupler that popped off the MAF due to a loose clamp. Fixed that and the car runs like a dream. The intake really increased spool and I can feel the power. It has been dyno tested by members of mazda-speed.com and one member that had an FM exhaust and downpipe on his MSM showed a 40hp increase with the kit with the same level of boost. Not sure if that is typical but everyone who tested it showed that it was superior to the FM intake.

https://www.miataturbo.net/picture.p...pictureid=2400

https://www.miataturbo.net/picture.p...pictureid=2399

https://www.miataturbo.net/picture.p...pictureid=2401

The kit is designed to decrease the throttle hesitation that MSM owners experience with the stock MAF. It definitely cured this. I bought this kit mainly for the intake and better throttle body elbow as it was well priced and proven to work. Overall I am incredibly happy with it so far.

There is a cold air tube that I have yet to install that attaches to the end of the intake shielding and pulls air from behind the front fender. It required cutting some of the plastic in the fender area and It was getting pretty late so I left it off for now. I will put it on soon.

Next mods include the mishimoto intercooler and 650cc injectors sitting in my room. I am also waiting on a Rev built enhanced MS2

Regarding gauges:

Consider the "'95MSM Boost Gauge Mod" (see http://www.mazda-speed.com/forum2/in...,13678.0.html)

Also, consider the PLX multi-gauges, they can display multiple sensor values. I mounted mine in the "dummy" water temperature location. (see http://www.mazda-speed.com/forum2/in...c,25487.0.html)

This past weekend, with the help of Sixshooter and miata2fast, I was able to switch out my clutch and flywheel with the FM super size clutch happy meal. Without those two I would have been completely lost.It went fairly smooth with no major problems. Sixshooter has air tools which were amazing, I can't even imagine doing parts of the job without them.

Sadly, I did not take any pictures because all I had was my phone and I did not want to slow down the already lengthy job since I needed to get it done quickly considering the MSM is my only form of transportation. After everything was reassembled we started it up and..... my car is idling like ---- and won't rev correctly.

I noticed my car started having problems starting, idling, and reving about 4 days before we switched out the clutch. Deep down I knew the clutch should not affect any of these things but I did not want to consider that something else broke at the same time as my clutch and that I would have to spend more money so I attributed it to the clutch anyway.

Well Sixshooter instantly knew my fuel pump was failing and that I probably would not be able to make it home like that. The gods were shining on me, however, because Sixshooter happened to have a used walbro 255lb/hr fuel pump in his parts bin that he let me buy off of him. After about 20 minutes to install it we turned the key and it fired right up and purred.

The FM clutch is amazing. The clamp pressure is unreal compared to my stock clutch and the lightened flywheel was instantly noticeable. The fuel pump must have been struggling to keep up for a while because I occasionally had some shudder under hard acceleration that is completely gone now which I assume is because there is always enough fuel.

Today I came home to a very nice surprise as well. A shipping notice that my MS2 was delivered but there was no one there to pick it up. Considering Reverant just shipped it on Thursday of last week I was pretty blown away that it was already here. The next step after I pick it up will be to install the MS2, 650cc injectors, my bigger intercooler, wideband sensor, and my boost and wideband gauge.

Thank again to Sixshooter and miata2fast for all the help. I'll see you at sebring this weekend for sure.

Today I was able to get my package from the post office. I opened it up and...... the glory.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1341539935

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1341539935

Won't be able to hook everything up right now so I am gonna make sure I have everything I need and that I do it right so the install can go smooth. I am going to have to install the wideband, boost and wideband gauge, injectors, and the MS2 all at once. I will probably go ahead and do the intercooler too while I am at it. More updates will come with plenty of pics.

Cool! In for pics.:)

Today Sixshooter and I installed my intercooler.

Yesterday I removed the bumper and made the initial measurements for the cuts that would need to be made.

First we removed the stock intercooler.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1344812691

Then we used the new intercooler to determine if any other modifications would need to be made and how we would mount it. Luckily we did not need to make the usual bends to the hard lines there.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1344812691

We decided that the best place to mount the new intercooler would be on the stock brackets. After a quick trip to Lowes I picked this up.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1344812691

Some simple modifications were made and we test fitted it on the car.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1344812691

It fit like a glove so we removed the bracket it and hit it with a coat of black paint to keep it stealthy.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1344812691

I also decided that while my bumper was off that I would go ahead and tap the intercooler pipe for the GM IAT sensor for my MS2.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1344812691

Finally we got it all back together just as nature decided to make it rain.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1344812691

Tomorrow I will put the bumper back on. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to install the MS2 like I had wanted so that will be the next chapter.

I put the bumper back on today. Here is what it looks like all together.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1344908568

Looks great bro! Super stealthy. Makes me want to paint my intercooler black.

Looks great.
My only worry about a painted intercooler is: chipping/flaking, and inferior heat exchanging capability vs an un-painted one.

The stock one was also black and to be honest after 90k miles the chipping was not too bad. You barely noticed unless you were down and looking right at it. The paint does hinder cooling but I remember reading a thread that IIRC was on this site that found that the difference is negligent especially if you are not making mad power. This is not a track beast, atleast not right now, so I am doing my best to keep it clean and somewhat stealthy as I build it.

I need to start working on getting the wideband, boost solenoid, gauges, and everything else wired up or in place so that I can start using the eMS2 that is sitting in my apartment.

Then I can move on to adding a rollbar, adressing the suspension and wheels/tires.

Cool beans. I'm sure its not a big deal like you say I'm just OCD like that lol.

Nice setup though. I love that you're doing it right with an MS instead of band aids. I keep telling my friend who just bought an MSM and throwing bolt ons and the FM o2 clamp to go MS.

good luck

Thanks,

I think that anything worth doing is worth doing right. I have always subscribed to the philosophy of buying high quality products once instead of getting cheap stuff many times and taking my time setting something up to look the way it should. I even clean up all the cords in my apartment and semi "tuck" them so that they are barely visible if at all. I think I have slight OCD with clutter.

That misumoto might have a thermal dispersive coating on it rather than paint. Which theoretically increases its heat transfer capability. But I have no idea if misumoto uses that or not.

This weekend I did all the preliminary stuff to install my MS2. I routed the vacuum tube into the cabin and ziptied it in place in the engine bay without actually taping into the line off the intake manifold. I put my LC-1 on the car with with the actual sensor ziptied up out of the way and wrapped to shield it from the elements. I also soldered extension wires to the pigtails from my IAT sensor and routed them up and into the engine bay where they will need to be, also tied out of the way.

I realized I am terrible at soldering and that wiring really intimidates me. I did not do the whole install because I know I will probably F something up and want a whole weekend to troubleshoot any problems. I did not take any pictures because there really is not anything interesting to see.

Going on a cruise next week so I probably will not get around to installing it until the weekend after. Hopefully I can con sixshooter into helping me once again as his knowledge always makes my life so much easier.

Sounds like you have set everything up really well. Installation is pretty straightforward and you should have it up and running in no time. It looks like you are very thorough but if you haven't read through this thread about the LC-1 and where to ground it, I would definitely do that. Have you decided where you're going to install the MS2?

I am gonna try to bracket it into about where the stock ECU sits like I have seen a few others do.

Hey Donald,

Our setups are going to be very close once you've got your MS installed. Let me know if there's anything I can do for your in the way of comparing tunes and what not. And I'd also be interested in looking at yours in a few months when you've got things ironed out.

I will definitely let you know. Thanks for the offer.

how noticeable was the lighter flywheel? ive read that having a lighter flywheel on a DD is kind of a pita. what where the differences you felt? when i upgrade my clutch, im thinking about getting a lighter flywheel but i can't decide as of now.

I have the 10.3 pound flywheel from FM even with the level 2 pressure plate it's very easy to drive on the street.

Sorry for not responding right away I did not get the notification. I like the lighter flywheel in my DD. It is definitely noticeable and takes about a week to fully adjust to in order to keep smooth shifts and moving from a complete stop without lurching. Once you are used to the feel of it you just notice the benefits.

I drove a friends MSM the other day with bolt ons + FM o2 clamp. WOWWWWWWW I have no idea how you guys put up with the stock MSM ecu. I would rip it out on my 1st day of ownership and replace with MS. I was seriously stunned. I have yet to drive a car with a worse ecu. Below 5k when it finally "kicks in" the car feels almost as slow as my 01

Yeah, I agree. I have been dieing to get my ms2 hooked up but life and my ignorance with wiring has made it a slow process. I am gonna take another crack at finishing it this weekend. The stock ecu drives like shit. It noticeably holds back the car until like 5k rpms. Mazda really did a terrible job with the tune. I expect to pick up a lot of area under the curve from the switch as well as some top end due to increased fuel capability from the new injectors.

Nice job on the intercooler, car is looking clean.

So, after Sixshooter showed me how to get a good solder with my crappy HF soldering gun, I grew a pair of balls and finished wiring up and installing my MS2 this weekend.

I started on Saturday around 11 A.M. and got everything wired up including my gauge. I started to disassemble the top half of the intake manifold to get to my fuel rail so I could install the new injectors and it was too dark by the time I had it apart to continue so I waited until Sunday morning to finish.

I got up early on Sunday and started on the car around 9 in the morning. I had the injectors in and everything reassembled by like 11 a.m. I had a little trouble with contorting the fuel rail so I could reach the injectors easily. At this point I set up tunerstudio on my laptop and followed Reverant's instructions for first startup. When I finally got to the point of starting the car it was really struggling to start and I had to give it some gas. It was idling really really lean and at first I thought my wideband was broken because it was at like 19:1. I hopped out and looked at the engine and I saw a mist of fuel coming from injector #1. I quickly shut the engine off and then let out a few expletives because I now had to uninstall all that shit again.

It went much faster the second time and I quickly noticed that the O-ring on injector 1 had torn when I put it on the rail. I removed the O-ring from one of my stock injectors to replace it and reassembled everything.

I turned the key again and everything started-up just right and the car idled at 12.3-12.5:1 at around 1k rpms! perfect. I checked for any visual signs of a leak so I was confident I was good to go and I drove around for about 20 minutes autotuning.

The base map Reverant provided was so good right out of the box that very little corrections were even needed. I am currently running wastegate pressure to fine tune it before I turn up the boost. It is already leaps and bounds smoother than the shit tastic stock MSM tune. The only thing I don't like about the upgrade so far is how loud the 650cc injectors are even at idle.

I will post more updates as I progress with tuning. i have a lot to learn and am confident I will have a lot of fun with it.

I had no idea you had a build thread until today. I guess I need to pay attention more.

Can't wait to see the tranformation. We have to get the cars together soon.